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We are senior couple from USA, in low 70's traveling to St Moritz on October 25. We have saver day pass which allows us to use GA travel card area. We will start from Tirano and back there. We intend to be in St Moritz for about 8 hours. What are best options to see town sites. Can this pass cover journey to PIZ NAIR also, if not what is price for that.

4 replies to this topic

The Saver day pass will cover travel to all inhabited places not to the mountains above them. And it won't get you any discounts on Piz Nair or other mountain excursions. Anyway it looks from the timetable that the cable car to Piz Nair won't be working on 25 October so this is not an issue for you.

With about 8 hours in the Engadin (are you sure about the time you have on hand?) you could see the town of St Moritz and then take a bus to Sils Maria or another village in the area. Hike for a bit. Maybe take the cable car to Diavolezza if it is working (again you will have to pay 100% of that). Remember it is going to get dark very early. And light late. Right now it was dark at my house about 1925. So sightseeing time is limited.

25 October is very late for the mountains. Engadiner can tell you what you can expect to be open in St Moritz and the general area but I do not think there will be a lot of things to see /do.

Most mountain cablecars close for maintenance on October 15 or 22, except Diavolezza which is open for skiing as from October 21, 2017 (maintenance here is done later in the season when the other cablecars re-open for skiing season).

However if you say you travel up from Tirano and go back there, I doubt you will have 8 hours here - you would have an extremly early start and late return to do so and this would be a waste, as you travel the Bernina line for the wonderful views and you would miss those traveling early/late in October. See https://www.bernina-glaciers.ch/en/ for what you would miss. Also you mention to want to see the "town sites". Forget about the town, what you most probably are coming for is the very scenic surrounding nature - most of the shops and restaurants in the village will be closed during shouder season anyway (there however is always something open - this is a time the tour groups are here so you will be able to shop in case you want to). In your case I would take a local train from Tirano to Bernina Diavolezza (stop on demand), get out and take the mountain cablecar up to Diavolezza (no discount however with your GA - only Corvatsch in the area is accepting it for a discount and it's closed after Oct. 15). So just do so with good weather otherwise you spend a lot of money to sit in a cloud and see snow fall. Have lunch on the sunny terrace and enjoy the stupendous views (sheep fur and woolen blankets provided) or if it is too cold, indoor with the panoramic windows. You will be in the middle of peaks and glaciers and snowfields. You can probably observe some skiing team and top athletes having their training units up there. Bring warm clothing, as it may be windy in October.

Then after lunch get down and take the next train direction St. Moritz (also here, stop on demand, you have to press a button at the tiny station) and get off again after a shor ride in Morteratsch - again if weather is nice - for a hike into the valley towards the glacier. You don't have to do the whole hike, the views are right from the beginning, but get better the closer you get to the glacier.

After returning you again take the next train (again here, stop on demand) and get off in either Pontresina for a stroll through the village with traditional buildings (uphill from the station) or St. Moritz for a stroll along the lake or you continue by bus to Sils as Hambagahle recommended.

However be aware that going up to the high mountains (Diavolezza) from low altitude as Tirano takes its toll - so make sure to be fit and healthy to do so, ask your physician what he thinks about this. I have seen quite some people feeling bad up there and not just beeing short of breath!

Check weather on https:/…weather and have a look also at the local forecasts. This site is very reliable and as with the mountain climate, it can be nice and sunny in one place and windy and wet in another close by. So don't plan to strictly ahead of time, take it as is comes. If weather is not that nice, you can always take a bus as far as Maloja and back. This takes you along the mountain lakes plateau and you can get on and off and visit villages along the way. Or you can travel down-valley and eventually see the smaller nice villages as Bever or Zuoz.

Just another idea: Depending on where you start and end this excursion (I don’t imagine you are spending your holidays in Tirano in October) you could also do this as a round-trip, arriving by train on the Bernina line, then returning by bus to Chiavenna and continue by train to your starting point). This is a wonderful journey, the Bregaglia valley being a remote and romantic experience. At the moment however calculate more time for the journey to Chiavenna, as a landslide destroyed the road and the one used now is one-lane only, so there are waiting times at a red light. It’s rougtly ½ hour more for the coming months.